ABC Finishes No. 1 on Sunday for the 6th Straight May Sweep In Adults 18-49, and is No. 1 on Thursday for the 4th Year in a Row

ABC Claims 5 of TV’s Top 15 Programs for the Season in Adults 18-49

The Net Airs 3 of the Season’s Top 7 Freshman Shows in Adults 18-49, Including the Top 2 New Sit-Coms and 2 of the Top 4 New Scripted Shows

ABC Tops with Upscale Adults 18-49, Airing 4 of TV’s Top 10 Series and 3 of the Top 5 New Scripted Shows in “Modern Family,” “Cougar Town” and “V”

2010 May Sweep (4/29-5/26/10 – 28 Nights Complete)

ABC finished No. 2 to an “Idol”-driven Fox in May 2010 among Adults 18-49 (2.7/8), its 2nd straight year to take second place for the month. The Net also earned a solid second during May in Adults 18-34 (2.2/7), defeating CBS by 29% (1.7/6) and NBC by 38% (1.6/5). The Net placed No. 1 for the month among key Women: W8-49 (3.4/10-tie) and W25-54 (4.2/11).

ABC Wins Final Week of May: ABC won the final complete Nielsen week of the May Sweep/TV Season (w/o 5/17/10) among Adults 18-49 (2.9/9), beating Fox by 7% (2.7/9), CBS by 32% (2.2/7) and NBC by 53% (1.9/6). Excluding only “Academy Awards” and “Super Bowl” weeks, it represented the first-ever victory for ABC over Fox during a week with “American Idol.” It was also first weekly win for any network in May over Fox in 5 years – since w/o 5/16/05.

Top-Rated Nights in May: ABC ranked as the No. 1 network on Sunday during May in Adults 18-49, winning on 3 of 4 weeks. In fact it was ABC’s 6th consecutive May to rank No. 1 on Sunday night in the key young adult sales demo (2005-2010). ABC also finished No. 1 on Thursday in Adults 18-49 for the 4th straight May Sweep (2007-2010). In addition, ABC registered as Monday’s most-watched TV network overall during May, ranking No. 1 on the night with Viewers on each of the final 10 weeks this season.

Highest-Rated Series in May: ABC aired 5 of the Top 12 TV series during May 2010 with Adults 18-49: “Grey’s Anatomy” – No. 5, “Modern Family” – No. 7, “Lost” No. – 8, “Desperate Housewives” – No. 10 and “Dancing with the Stars” – No. 12. ABC’sDancing with the Stars” was the second-most-watched TV show of the month, while qualifying as the No. 1 regular show over both editions of “American Idol” on 6 of the last 8 Nielsen weeks of the 2009-10 TV Season.

2009-10 TV Season (9/21/09-5/26/10 – Complete)

Based on all programming, ABC ranked No. 2 to Fox this season among Adults 18-34 (2.2/7-tie) and Women 18-34 (2.8/8). Excluding sports from the averages to account for the boosts that came from sports packages on CBS (NFL Sunday overruns and Playoff Games/Super Bowl/NCAA Basketball Tournament), NBC (NFL “Sunday Night Football” and Playoff Games/Winter Olympics) and Fox (NFL Sunday overruns and Playoffs Games/MLB post-season baseball), ABC was on the heels of No. 2 Fox in Total Viewers (pacing within 350k viewers – 8.7 million vs. 9.0 million) and No. 2 CBS in Adults 18-49 (pacing within two-tenths of a rating point – 2.7/7 vs. 2.9/8) this season. Also in the non-sports numbers, ABC led NBC for the season by wide margins in both Total Viewers (+2.4 million – 8.7 million vs. 6.3 million) and Adults 18-49 (+29% - 2.7/7 vs. 2.1/6).

ABC Outdraws a Sports-Fueled NBC for the Season, Even with the 17-Night Winter Olympics: Despite NBC’s enormous boost to its season averages from 17 nights of Winter Olympics coverage in February and record-setting “Sunday Night Football” numbers, ABC topped NBC for the season by 5% in Total Viewers (8.6 million vs. 8.2 million) and also held the edge in Adult 18-49 actuals (3.54 million vs. 3.53 million).

ABC is the No. 1 Net on Thursday, as “Grey’s” is the No. 1 Show: ABC was the No. 1 network this season on Thursday night among Adults 18-49 (tied w/CBS). In fact, ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” stood as Thursday’s No. 1 TV show in the key young adult sales demo for the 4th straight season.

Season’s Highest-Rated TV Series: ABC aired 5 of TV’s Top 15 shows this season in Adults 18-49, including 2 of the Top 3 scripted shows: “Lost” and “Grey’s Anatomy” are tied at No. 6 (tied as the No. 2 scripted series), “Desperate Housewives” – No. 10, “Dancing with the Stars” and “The Bachelor” are tied at No. 14. The Network claimed 4 of the Top 20 most-watched shows for the season: “Dancing with the Stars” – No. 3, “Dancing with the Stars the Results” – No. 10, “Housewives” – No. 13 and “Grey’s” – No. 16. The Net delivered 4 of the Top 10 TV shows with Women 18-49, with “Grey’s,” “Housewives,” “The Bachelor” and “DWTS.”

Top Freshman Series: ABC claimed 3 of the Top 7 new TV shows this season among Adults 18-49, including 2 of the Top 4 scripted freshman series and the Top 2 sit-coms: “Modern Family” – No. 3 (No. 1 new sit-com/No. 2 scripted), “V” – No. 5 (No. 4 scripted) and “Cougar Town” – No. 7 (No. 2 sit-com).

ABC is a Top Draw with Upscale Young Adults: ABC stood as the No. 2 television network for the season among upscale young adults in the non-sports averages. ABC ranked as the second-highest-rated network among Adults 18-49 in homes with $100K+ Annual Income (3.23 rating), leading CBS by +10% (2.92) and NBC by +24% (2.59). Also in the non-sports averages, ABC was the No. 1 network based on concentration or index of upscale young adults in its audience (Index of 119-tie). In addition, ABC claimed 9 of the Top 25 (4 of the Top 10 – the most for any net) highest-rated regular TV series this season among high income young adults, including the No. 1 scripted show (“Lost”) and 3 of the Top 5 scripted freshman series (“Modern Family,” “Cougar Town” and “V”): “Lost” (7.95 rating) – No. 3 (No. 1 scripted), “Grey’s Anatomy” (7.03) – No. 6 (No. 3 scripted), “The Bachelor” (7.01) – No. 7, “Desperate Housewives” (6.04) – No. 10, “Modern Family“ (5.59) – No. 11, “Dancing with the Stars” (5.12) – No. 19, “V” (4.89) – No. 22, “Private Practice” (4.48) – No. 23 and “Brothers & Sisters” (4.43) – No. 25. ABC also qualified as the No. 2 highest-rated network this season in the non-sports numbers on two of Nielsen’s other premium upscale measures, including Adults 18-49 with 4+ Years of College and Professionals or Managers earning $100K+ Annual Income. “Modern Family” tied as the No. 1 broadcast series for the season in terms of Annual Median Income for its Adult 18-49 audience, coming in at $78,000 (tied w/”Amazing Race,” “30 Rock” and “The Office.”) Reporting an Annual Median Income of $73,000 for their respective young adult audiences, ABC’s “The Bachelor,” “Lost,” “Cougar Town,” “Grey’s,” “Private Practice,” “Housewives” and “Brothers & Sisters” all tied with the 2nd-highest incomes among broadcast series this season.

ABC Series Among Most Popularly Recorded and Played Back: On average during primetime this season, ABC’s numbers grew from the originally reported Live + Same Day averages to the finalized Live + 7 Day ratings by +9% in Total Viewers (7.9 million to 8.6 million), by +13% in Adults 18-49 (2.4/7 to 2.7/7) and by +16% in Adults 18-34 (1.9/6 to 2.2/7). In fact, ABC was the top percentage gainer via DVR among the major networks on all 3 Nielsen measures. The Net’s series were among the most popularly recorded and played back. ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” remained TV’s most-played-back show again this season. On average, “Grey’s Anatomy” was the top gainer from the originally reported numbers (Live + Same Day) to the finalized DVR playback numbers (Live + 7 Day), generating an additional +2.8 million viewers (13.2 million to 16.0 million). With a significant rise in DVR penetration year to year (from 31% to 36%), the “Grey’s” DVR bump was 4% higher than its average increase last season (+2.7 million viewers in 2008-09). The sixth-season ABC medical drama was also the biggest actual gainer overall in Adult 18-49 rating, picking up 1.4 rating points in the finalized numbers (+29%) – surging from a 4.8 rating to a 6.2 rating. A total of 10 of ABC’s scripted series gained more than 1.0 million viewers on average from their originally reported numbers to the final DVR playback numbers, including “Grey’s Anatomy” (+2.9 million – top gainer overall), “Lost” (+2.2 million), “Private Practice” (+1.9 million), “Castle” (+1.9 million), “V” (+1.8 million), “Modern Family” (+1.8 million), “Desperate Housewives” (+1.7 million), “FlashForward” (+1.6 million), “Brothers & Sisters” (+1.3 million) and “Cougar Town” (+1.1 million). Among Adults 18-49, 10 of ABC’s scripted series also registered substantial ratings increases of half-a-rating point or more: “Grey’s Anatomy” (+1.5 rating point – top gainer overall), “Lost” (+1.1 rating), “Private Practice” (+1.0 rating), “Modern Family” (+1.0 rating), “V” (+0.8 rating), “Desperate Housewives” (+0.8 rating), “FlashForward” (+0.8 rating), “Cougar Town” (+0.7 rating), “Castle” (+0.6 rating) and “Brothers & Sisters” (+0.5 rating).

Source: The Nielsen Company, National “Most Current” Program Ratings (9/21/09-5/26/10), or as dated. Upscale data based on regular non-sports programming. DVR Playback Live + 7 Day based on regular, original telecasts only, 9/21/09-5/9/10.